AN AIR QUALITY ALERT is in effect for a lot of western Montana, including Glacier County, until 9am Thursday.
It has been very hazy today and the air quality has been in the “moderate” category or the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category in most locations for most of the day. Tonight, a thicker plume of smoke from Canada will work its way into Montana ahead of a cold front, and smoke from wildfires throughout the northwestern U.S. will become thicker as well. This means it will be smoky outside tonight, especially during the second half of the night, and the air quality may become unhealthy for everyone.
Tomorrow morning will be nasty as it is going to be smoky throughout a lot of central and western Montana. It will possibly smell like smoke, the visibility will be low, and the air quality will probably be unhealthy for everyone in a lot of locations.
Definitely limit your time outdoors tomorrow morning as health impacts (eye, nose, and throat irritation; coughing; headaches) can occur fast, especially for sensitive individuals.
WATCH THE DETAILED FORECAST:
Thankfully this awful air won’t last long. As we go through tomorrow, the smoke/haze will gradually diminish and the air quality will gradually improve from north to south. On Friday, it will still be hazy in western and southwestern Montana, but everywhere else it will just be a little hazy with good air quality!
Tonight, we are going to have mostly clear skies and mild temperatures as lows are going to be in the 50s in most locations. Tomorrow, we are going to have partly to mostly sunny skies and mostly dry conditions (just a few isolated light showers around).
A cold front will pass through our area tomorrow bringing us much cooler temperatures and gusty winds. Highs tomorrow are only going to be in the 60s and low 70s, and lows tomorrow night are going to be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s. There will be some areas of frost around Friday morning, especially along the Hi-Line and near the mountains, so make sure you take the necessary precautions to protect any sensitive vegetation that you may have.
It is going to be breezy tomorrow in western portions of north-central Montana (west of a line from Havre to Lewistown) as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and wind gusts up to 40 mph are possible. In eastern portions of north-central Montana (around and east of a line from Havre to Lewistown), it is going to be windy tomorrow as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 30 mph, and wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible.
Friday and Saturday will feature beautiful weather as we are going to have lots of sunshine, dry conditions, a little breeze (sustained wind speeds between 5 and 15 mph), and pleasant temperatures as highs are going to be in the upper 60s and low to mid 70s on Friday and the 70s and low 80s on Saturday.
Cloud cover and precipitation chances will increase Sunday and next week as we enter a more active weather pattern. On Sunday and Monday, we are going to have partly cloudy skies with a few showers and thunderstorms around during the PM hours, generally in the mountains. There are then going to be some scattered showers and thunderstorms around on Tuesday and Wednesday, mainly during the PM hours and especially in the mountains. We are also going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies on these two days.
It will remain warm on Sunday and Monday as highs are going to be in the 80s and upper 70s in most locations. The temperatures will then cool down some for Tuesday and Wednesday as highs are going to be in the 70s and low to mid 80s.
